Sliding platforms for cargo bays of pick up trucks have been known and used for some time (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,158 dated Apr. 25, 1989). Some of these devices are extremely cumbersome and difficult to install. Others require the installation of special brackets to hold the sliding apparatus in place in the cargo bay. These brackets may be difficult to install and present unwanted intrusion into the cargo bay when the sliding platform apparatus is removed. Other installations require partial disassembly of the sliding apparatus when it is desired to remove or install the sliding platform from the cargo bay. It is especially difficult to remove or install the sliding platform when standard bolts and nuts are used to hold the sliding apparatus in place in the cargo bay. It is first necessary to provide holes in the box of the pick up vehicle at points (which may be almost inaccessible) in the front and/or bottom of the cargo box, and then one must gain access to threaded ends of the mounting bolts which must protrude through the front and bottom of the cargo box in order to fasten or unfasten the sliding platform apparatus in the cargo area. This means that someone must gain access to the area where the mounting bolts protrude.
It must be remembered that if the sliding platform is to be installed and removed on a regular basis, that installation procedure is important.